


i guess i want you more than i thought i did

by thestarsaretalking



Category: Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet (TV)
Genre: Angst and Humor, Basketball, Canon Related, F/F, Mario Kart, Secret Relationship, dana and rachel love each other a lot, jo is a an asshole but in a funny way, you will see how they r correlated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 20:53:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29797740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thestarsaretalking/pseuds/thestarsaretalking
Summary: Jo has a hunch that Dana and Rachel are secretly dating and goes out of her way to catch the two red-handed. Out of fear of Jo telling everybody about her relationship with Dana, Rachel agrees to do what Jo wants.
Relationships: Dana/Rachel (Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet), Rachel & Jo
Comments: 6
Kudos: 7





	i guess i want you more than i thought i did

**Author's Note:**

> this is me just trying to predict what happens in s2 mythic quest based on an amalgamation of secret dating tropes from other sitcoms i don’t remember where i borrowed this plotline from (maybe parks and recs) mainly bcs i have bad memory but i know for certain that this was definitely a plotline from a show i watched. the title is taken from the song helium by glass animals. why i name my fics after glass animals lyrics you ask? their music slaps that's why. anyway, enjoy!

Jo considered herself to be a perceptive person. She prided herself on her ability to note who was the most dominant person in the room, and her ability to catch her co-workers doing things they weren’t supposed to do (and she loved ratting them out; that was the best part). So, naturally, Jo had noticed that something had changed between Dana and Rachel relatively quickly after the two had started dating. 

Two days after Dana and Rachel went on their first date together and officially started dating, the Mythic Quest team had a meeting, discussing the newest expansion pack for the game. This is when Jo noticed that Dana and Rachel were sitting closer than usual. Their shoulders were touching, and they were exchanging knowing glances every few minutes. Jo spent the entire meeting staring at Dana and Rachel, but somehow neither of them noticed because they were too busy staring into each other’s eyes to pay attention to whatever Ian and Poppy were arguing about. 

It wasn’t until the meeting ended and everybody was getting ready to leave when Jo loudly demanded, “Dana, Rachel, why were you guys staring at each other during the meeting?” 

As Rachel glanced over worriedly at Dana, her eyes widened in fear. Dana, on the other hand, managed to keep her shock under control as she feigned confusion. “Um, I don’t know what you’re talking about. We weren’t ‘staring at each other.’” 

“Yeah, we weren’t,” agreed Rachel. 

David cast a wary glance over at Jo. “Don’t mind her. She’s been acting out ever since she’s been helping Brad out.” 

“Hey, how is this my fault?” Brad protested, and Rachel and Dana slipped away quietly as Brad, David, and Jo began arguing with one another. Jo only noticed that the girls had left when David broke down crying because Brad, caught up in the moment, had insulted him by saying “this is why your parents got a divorce,” and she was too embarrassed to watch David cry and glanced at where Dana and Rachel had been standing to see that they had disappeared. 

She resolved to find out what was going on between Dana and Rachel and decided to spontaneously pay them a visit in the gaming room. When she opened the door abruptly and stormed into the gaming room, Jo accusatorily announced, “Ha! I caught you guys!”

Rachel and Dana, who were both in the middle of playing the game (and not kissing, like what Jo had expected to find), both glanced over at Jo with surprised glances. The game made a sad noise as Dana’s character was slaughtered by the monster (a result of her being distracted by Jo), and Jo’s victorious grin slipped off her face. 

“Caught us… doing our jobs?” Dana asked, arching a skeptical eyebrow. 

Huffing an angry breath, Jo cast an annoyed glance over at Dana before turning around and walking away. “Whatever.” 

She attempted to catch Dana and Rachel red-handed again when she came to work extra early and hid behind the corner right next to the kitchen. Over the past few months, Jo had memorized her co-workers’ working patterns, and she knew that if she got to work at 7:30, she would only have to wait ten minutes for Dana to show up in the kitchen to put her lunch in the freezer. If she caught Dana walking into the kitchen with Rachel, she could argue that it was proof of their relationship. 

The moment Dana stepped foot into the kitchen, Jo jumped out from her hiding place and pointed a finger at Dana. “Aha! I got you this time!” 

Unfortunately for Jo, Dana was standing alone, and Jo’s voice was loud enough to garner the attention of everybody in the workspace near the kitchen. So, Dana and a group of coders were all glancing at Jo with blank expressions of utter bewilderment. Jo opened and closed her mouth, trying to think of a classic Jo remark to say. Instead, she just frowned and clenched her hands into tight fists at her side as she stormed out of the kitchen, embarrassed to have caused a huge ruckus in front of everybody. 

After two failed attempts, Jo was prepared to give up completely. Maybe David was right; spending too much time around Brad was probably the reason why Jo’s instincts were off. 

_ Maybe I should go back to working for David, even though he’s a wimp compared to Brad, _ Jo thought to herself as she sulked through the halls. She punched the down button next to the elevator and waited impatiently for the elevator to arrive as she forlornly stared down at her shoes. When the elevator dinged, Jo lifted her eyes to see that Dana and Rachel were standing in the elevator, holding hands. 

The corners of Jo’s lips tilted upward as she triumphantly declared, “Gotcha!” 

“Wait, Jo, we can explain-” Dana began just as Rachel protested, “Please don’t tell anybody at work.” 

Grinning evilly, Jo responded, “Well, I have to. Unless… you’re willing to do a few things for me.” 

The elevator doors began closing, and Dana quickly reached an arm out to force them to close, allowing Rachel and her to step out of the elevator. While Dana seemed apprehensive about Jo’s offer, Rachel, without hesitation, agreed, “I’ll do whatever you want me to.” 

“Perfect.” Jo rubbed her hands together cunningly. “The first thing I need you to do is to convince Ian to give me a raise.” 

Dana frowned, crossing her arms. “What? Is that even possible?” 

“It’s either that or I’m gonna have to tell Ian. I have no other choice,” Jo shrugged. Dana’s frown deepened as Dana was tempted to point out that Jo’s other choice was to simply not tell Ian and pretend like she didn’t see anything. But knowing Jo, she probably didn’t even consider that as an option.

Squeezing her eyes shut tightly, Rachel relented, “Fine. I’ll talk to Ian and get him to give you a raise.” 

“Good.” Jo gave Rachel and Dana an approving nod before walking away, her head held high as she silently let herself celebrate her victory. With Jo gone, Rachel and Dana stood in front of the closing elevator door, trying to process the new development. 

Dana turned to Rachel, the worry evident in her voice as she asked, “Are you sure this is a good idea?” 

“Yeah! I think it should be fine. Don’t worry. It’ll all work out. Let’s get back to work,” Rachel reassured her girlfriend, patted Dana on the back, and walked to the gaming room. Despite Rachel’s assurance, Dana glanced after Rachel with an uneasy look before following her. 

~ 

Knowing Ian, getting him to agree to give Jo a raise wasn’t going to be easy. As much as Rachel wanted to walk up to Ian and just ask him “Hey, can you give Jo a raise?”, she knew that he would outright reject her suggestion without even considering it. If getting a raise was as easy as simply asking for one, everybody at Mythic Quest would be making much more money than they were at the moment.

So, Rachel decided to put Ian in a situation where he would be willing to be more generous. She walked into Ian’s office as Ian was fiddling with his fake sword in his office and stopped a few feet after walking in to avoid being decapitated by the fake sword. 

Ian noticed her and stopped swinging his sword. “Hey Rachel, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be doing work?” 

Rachel wanted to point out that Ian should look at himself before saying anything, but she opted not to just ignore Ian’s remark. “I was thinking we could maybe get lunch together soon and catch up? I want to talk to you about something.” 

“I’m probably busy. Also, I don’t really want to get lunch with you, if I’m being honest,” Ian replied as he inspected the handle of his sword. It took all of Rachel’s strength to not drop her head into her hands out of impatience. 

“Are you sure? We could go to that fancy French restaurant you like. It’ll be on me,” tried Rachel, hopeful that Ian would give in. 

Still, Ian shook his head. “Not interested.” 

Rachel should’ve known that her attempts would be brushed aside, so she took a deep breath and brought out the offer she’d been saving as a last resort. “How about we play basketball together?” 

Intrigued by the word “basketball,” Ian glanced up from his sword as he stared at Rachel, scrutinizing her. Something Ian often talked about was how much he loved playing basketball. On multiple occasions, Ian had tried to get everybody from work to play basketball with him, but nobody wanted to compete with Ian, especially in a sport that involved the risk of being shoved and kicked. Even though Rachel knew that playing basketball with Ian was basically a death wish, that was the only option she had left. 

As he put his sword down on his desk, Ian crossed his arms and informed. “Saturday, 3 in the afternoon at YMCA. Don’t be late.” 

“Great! Looking forward to it.” Rachel faked a smile and held it until she turned around and walked out of Ian’s office, her smile sliding off her face. She pressed two fingers against her forehead, trying to contain the oncoming headache. Talking to Ian for two minutes already made her head hurt, and Rachel wasn’t looking forward to Saturday.

In fact, Rachel almost forgot about playing basketball with Ian on Saturday because she was at Dana’s apartment at noon on Saturday, playing video games with her girlfriend. Logically, Rachel and Dana already spent so much time at work playing video games to the point where playing video games on the weekends wouldn’t seem appealing; but they both loved playing Mario Kart too much to stop playing it.

As Dana crossed the finish line in the game, she pumped her fists victoriously and whooped, “And another victory for Dana!” 

“I don’t get it. How are you so good at this game?” Rachel laughed, bumping her shoulder against Dana’s. 

As Dana responded, she adjusted her glasses and shrugged with a playful smile on her face. “What can I say? I’m a natural.”

Suddenly, the alarm on Rachel’s phone rang loudly, reminding Rachel that she had agreed to play basketball with Ian. Sighing, Rachel turned off the alarm and apologized, “Sorry, Dana, I agreed to play basketball with Ian at 3, so I have to go now.” 

“Wait, is this for the thing that Jo asked you to do?” 

“Yeah, but don’t worry about it. I got it all under control. Love you.” Rachel kissed Dana on the lips quickly before grabbing her jacket and leaving Dana’s apartment. Dana stared forlornly at the door after Rachel left, wondering if Rachel really did have everything under control as she’d claimed. 

Admittedly, Rachel did not have everything under control at first. When Rachel arrived at the YMCA, Ian was already warming up, practicing lay-ups. He broke into a grin and pointed at Rachel when he spotted her. “Rachel! Are you ready to play some basketball?” 

Mustering up false enthusiasm, Rachel replied, “I sure am!” 

She really wasn’t. Rachel hadn’t played basketball or done anything that involved any physical activity as strenuous as basketball in years, and she was tired out in the first 10 minutes. Nevertheless, she did her best and managed to shoot the ball into the hoop a few times, which seemed insignificant compared to the dozens of times Ian did so. 

By the end of the game, Rachel was sweating and out of breath, and all she wanted to do was collapse into a puddle in the middle of the gym. But she managed to keep herself together to sit down at a bench before she allowed herself to slump against the wall and catch her breath. Ian, who was significantly less tired than Rachel, sat down next to her. “Good game. You fought hard out there even though you aren’t really that good.” 

Between pants, Rachel managed, “Thanks. It was fun though. You’re good at basketball.”

“Thanks!” Ian stood up again and began dribbling the basketball as he jogged around the perimeter of the basketball court. How Ian still had the energy to do that after a game of basketball was beyond Rachel. “By the way, what was the thing you wanted to ask me about?” 

“Oh, I was wondering if you’d be willing to give Jo a raise? She says she’s been working hard lately, and she really wants a raise.” 

Ian stopped dribbling for a moment to think before he shrugged and agreed, “Sure. Why not?” 

Exhaling in relief, Rachel dropped her head into her hands. At least that was finally over with, at the expense of her energy and probably her legs too, considering how she woke up the next morning to find that her legs were aching in pain.

~

The next day at work, Jo sauntered into the gaming room and greeted, “Thanks for getting me the raise, Rachel.” 

Rachel took off her green headphones and tried not to seem too anxious as she responded, “Oh, yeah. No problem. So, you won’t tell anybody now, right?” 

Shaking her head, Jo grinned even wider. “Not exactly. I have a few more requests.” 

Dana, who had been listening to the conversation, dropped her video game remote onto her lap and asked, “A few?” 

“I want you to get CW fired. He’s old and annoying.” 

Rachel’s mouth dropped open in shock. “What? I can’t do that!” 

“Well, it’s either you do that or I tell everybody about you guys.” Jo lifted her head a little higher, feeling extremely powerful for having the upper hand in the situation. Before Rachel could reply with anything, Jo turned around and left, an intimidation tactic she’d learned from Brad. 

“Rachel, this is getting too far. You can’t get CW fired,” Dana protested, watching Rachel with worried eyes. 

“It’ll be fine. I’ll figure something out,” reassured Rachel. Rachel put her headphones on and casually continued playing the game, but Dana could see through Rachel’s act. She could see that this was clearly weighing down on Rachel, and she couldn’t bear to see Rachel suffering and sacrificing herself for the sake of their relationship. 

So, the following day, Dana broke up with Rachel at work in the morning, which, in retrospect, probably wasn’t the wisest idea considering that they had to spend the rest of their days working with each other. When Dana had said “I think we should break up,” Rachel’s first reaction had been to ask, “Is this about the Jo thing? Because I promise you, it’s really not that big of a deal.” 

“I’m sorry, Rachel.” 

“No, it’s cool. I just— I gotta use the bathroom,” Rachel lied, her eyes glistening with tears. She turned around and dashed out of the gaming room, leaving Dana alone. Dana watched Rachel walk through the office with her head bowed down so nobody could see her crying, and she wiped the tears forming in her own eyes away. 

She hated seeing Rachel so hurt but she didn’t want to burden Rachel with a relationship that would cause more harm than good. It wasn’t an easy choice to make, but Dana felt like it was the right one. 

A few minutes after Rachel left, Jo walked and paused mid-step when she noticed that Rachel was missing. “Hey, where’s Rachel?” 

“She needs some space right now,” Dana explained as she glanced down at her hands. “We broke up. I didn’t want to keep it a secret anymore.” 

“Oh.” Jo sat down next to Dana and stared at the TV screen. “I wasn’t actually going to tell anybody. I just wanted to see how far I could push Rachel because I thought it was funny. If you guys really like each other, you shouldn’t let some stupid company policy stop you guys from dating.”

Fiddling with one of her braids, Dana asked, “You really think so?” 

Jo nodded, “Yeah! Company policy is dumb anyway. Plus, you guys are cute together. I’ll leave you guys alone from now on, but, I’m just saying, you should put your feelings for Rachel first.” 

Dana broke into a small smile, “That’s actually really insightful, Jo. Thanks.” 

“No problem. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go help Brad figure out how to get David to shave his mustache again.” 

With that, Jo stood up and left the gaming room, and Dana smiled after her. Maybe Jo wasn’t all that bad after all. 

~

For a few days after the breakup, Rachel and Dana didn’t talk much. The silence hanging above their heads was awkward, and they both avoided talking about anything related to their relationship. Finally, Dana couldn’t bear the tortuous uneasiness any longer, and when she and Rachel were sitting in uncomfortable silence and playing Mythic Quest, Dana took off her headphones and blurted out, “I’m sorry about breaking up with you. I didn’t want to do it, and now I regret it a lot because even though it sucked to hide our relationship, it sucks, even more, to not be with you.” 

Rachel, caught off guard, stared at Dana in shock, trying to process what was happening, and Dana continued, “I love you, Rachel, and I want to be with you again.” 

“What about company policy?” questioned Rachel, her eyes wide with surprise. 

Dana firmly shook her head. “I don’t care about company policy. I just want to be with you, and if it means I have to go against company policy and that we have to keep our relationship a secret for a long time, I’m willing to do that.” 

With that, Dana cupped Rachel’s face with her hands and kissed Rachel on the lips. And, for a moment, Rachel finally felt like everything was perfect and that the universe was restored to exactly how it should be. 

Then, Ian walked in and ruined the moment. “Hey Rachel, I was wondering if— whoa, what’s going on here?” 

So much for keeping their relationship a secret.


End file.
